A deal to sell Newcastle United could be signed by July following "real and decent interest", according to the investment bank acting on behalf of the owner, Mike Ashley.

Keith Harris, chairman of Seymour Pierce, said that "two or three" parties had shown an interest, suggesting that some of this had come from the United Kingdom.

"I'm confident that there will be offers for Mike to consider in quite short order," Harris told Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek.

"There is real and decent interest. This is not necessarily from far-flung parts of the globe and those expressing interest when it was first marketed, but this is good, gritty interest."

Harris also said that, thanks to the infrastructure and potential at St James' Park, the club remained an attractive proposition despite its relegation and the amount Ashley has lost on his investment.

"It is a huge club," said Harris. "If you think in attendance terms last year, it exceeded Liverpool, averaging 48,000 and Liverpool a little over 45,000.

"If you walk around the infrastructure, the training ground, the academy, if you're a person who is willing to take a view over the next two to three years, this is a club that belongs in the top seven."

Newcastle's owner, Mike Ashley, has put the club and its entire squad on the market. Leading players' agent Barry Silkman estimates how much they might make in a fire sale of the club's top talent this summer